“Prop blast got it, sir. And my radio and batteries with it. Do you have a weapon, sir?”

“Just my knife.”

“Do you have any idea where we are, sir?”

“Some. So, you’re a radioman?”

“Yes, sir. l was until l lost my radio on the jump. l’ll get chewed out for that.”

“If you were in my platoon, l’d say you were a rifleman first, radioman second.”

“Maybe you could say that to my leader. When we find him. If we find him.”

“lt’s a deal. First, l need your help. …”

I rewatched this scene from Band of Brothers a couple of years back. And that line stuck with me:

“If you were in my platoon, l’d say you were a rifleman first, radioman second.”

It stuck, because it matched a realisation I had around the same time.

See, I’ve always identified as a writer. More recently a copywriter. But, until taking on the position as “Head of” at Latitude, I never saw myself as a marketer.

That was a mistake.

I’m a marketer first. So are you.

And I’m a copywriter second.

This applies whether you specialise in graphic design, paid search, web development, programmatic, and so on.

But what does it mean, to be a “marketer first”?

Who Are You When it Comes to This Problem?

Let’s say you’re freelancing as a graphic designer.

Your new project is to create a suite of banner ads.

The client gives you the objective.

The client gives you the deadline.

The client gives you the budget.

If you’re lucky, the client gives you the brand guidelines.

If you’re really lucky, the client gives you a handful of target media placements for the ads.

And if you’re some kind of wizard, the client might even give you the customer profile.

As a professional, you set to work and deliver on time. Ahead of time, even – because you KNOW the client’s gonna show the ads to his wife … and you KNOW she’s gonna have some “slight amends” to request.

Or …

Before starting, you might ask for the client’s wider marketing objective.

You might ask what other marketing activity they’re running right now.

You might ask if they’ve tried banner ads in the past. And, if so, you might ask to see the results.

You might ask how their customer profile was created in the first place.

And you might realise – banner ads are a waste of time and money for this client.

If you do these things, you’re thinking like a marketer.

If you advise the client to invest into an alternative and more logical tactic (something like a paid Facebook advertising campaign), you’re being a marketer first … and a graphic designer second.

I know who I’d rather have working on my team.

Is the “Marketer First” Approach Always the Right Move?

I get it. Sometimes, it’s better to keep your head down, do the work, take the money, and run a mile.

But sometimes, you have a rational client (they do exist). And the marketer-first attitude secures you a position of total trust. These relationships can last a lifetime.

We were dropping like flies, wasting away, getting all kinds of weird diseases like Kaposi’s Sarcoma and PCP Pneumonia. We died, sometimes in horrible agonizing pain, sometimes slowly drowning from the fluid in our lungs. And nobody cared. Nobody gave a damn.”

For me, the scariest part of that paragraph is the ending. The loneliness of it.[Read more…]

And Sergeant J.T. Sanborn seems a little too relaxed, as he remotely controls the disposal robot.

This is the first two minutes we see in The Hurt Locker, a movie that went on to win six Academy Awards in 2010.

Its opening scene is a prime example of irresistible storytelling – starting in the thickest of the action.

You’ve seen this approach a hundred times over …

Think of Troy, which starts with Achilles in a one-on-one battle. Gladiator,with Maximus leading the fight against a barbarian horde. Or 300, with its now infamous THIS IS SPARTA introduction (yes, I’ve got a tickle spot for swords and shields).

As viewers, we’re given a truckload of credit by the director – who knows we’re gonna build a fast story around the action in our heads.

Learn how to do this with your blog intros and you become a more explosive writer over time. [Read more…]